Thanks to a partnership with Mercedes, a new, slightly more realistic vehicle option will soon join the likes of the airship-themed "Landship" and shoe-shaped "Sneeker" in the Japanese version of Mario Kart 8. Mario and company will be able to drive a kart-sized version of the Mercedes GLA by obtaining a piece of free downloadable content this summer, as revealed by Japanese game magazine Famitsu.

The DLC is part of a wider Japanese marketing campaign between Mercedes and Nintendo, including a bizarre TV advertisement featuring Mario driving a pixellated Mercedes through the iconic World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. The ad also features a live-action, dirt-stained, bulb-nosed, muscle-bound Mario that is sure to haunt our nightmares for weeks to come.

The classic Mario motif continues through a promotional website for the car, which even features the familiar Super Mario Bros. theme. Famitsu also reports that a special Mercedes-themed Mario Kart 8 tournament will take place in Japan this fall.

Nintendo has yet to confirm whether the marketing partnership and DLC will come to other markets, but a representative for Nintendo UK told Eurogamer "we will be able to announce in the near future."

Product placement isn't a completely new phenomenon in Nintendo-made games. Pikmin 2 featured branded collectibles ranging from Chap Stick and Duracell batteries to Skippy peanut butter, and the Wave Race series featured Kawasaki-branded jet skis. More overt product placement is practically a cherished tradition in the game industry, from the ultra-rare, Purina-sponsored Chase the Chuck Wagon on the Atari VCS to the trio of Burger King-themed Xbox 360 games distributed through the burger chain.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in Pittsburgh, PA.